All Nations Community Church
Life doesn’t always go the way we expect, and we pray to God for help and guidance. But sometimes it seems like even though we pray with faith, God doesn’t do what we've asked. We seek Him, but don’t feel His presence. We go through pain, but our cries for relief seem to go unanswered. Sometimes, our lives just don't make sense.
In this three-week series, Pastor Steve takes a close look at what we can do when we are "Waiting on God". Topics cover the delays and changes we sometimes experience when we surrender our lives to God's planning.
Week 1: When God Seems Inattentive
Week 2: When God Seems Late
Week 3: When God Seems Uncooperative
Context:
Chapter 40 begins the second portion of the Book of Isaiah (3 parts of Isaiah, 1-39, 40-55, 56-66); its common theme is salvation and future blessing of God’s people.
The hearers knew that they were to be in exile for 70 years!
Words of Isaiah to King Hezekiah:
"Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the Lord." Isaiah 39:6
Under the news of this prophetic word, the Jews who were still trying to serve the Lord needed encouragement, comfort and assurance.
They would need the teaching of these chapters that they might be consoled by the promises of God.
Isaiah 40:27 ESV
When God Answers, there is a revelation of three truths:
1. God is aware, v. 27
Verse 27 is a rebuke for the people because they were convinced that God had written them off
Sometimes God’s people believe that He has left them. They think that he does not still care about them.
God is aware! He is aware of what's happening in the lives of His people from day to day.
GOD IS THERE, AND AWARE. "The Lord knows the way of the righteous," (Psalm 1:6).
As those Jews went through dark moments of their Captivity, WE NEED TO REMEMBER: Our way is not hidden from the Lord!
Isaiah 40:28-30 ESV
2. God is able, vv. 28-30
He Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
God does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.
YHWH neither faints, nor is weary! There is a vastness about the reach and depth of His power that's overwhelming.
Not only does He not lack strength! HE SUPPLIES IT, vv. 29-30
Isaiah 40:31 ESV
3. God is available, v. 31
God is available, to renew the strength of "those who wait" on Him.
What does it mean to wait? In Hebrew qavah the figurative meaning of the word is “to bind together like a cord.”
It’s the process of making a rope by twisting or weaving small strings together to form the rope.
Waiting on God is designed to make you stronger!
Talk it over with someone!
· What does God need to renew in you?
· In your relationship with God, how have you lost sight of the source?
· What are some ways you can become better connected to God?
